Member Article

Charity Collaboration Set to Make Waves

Two leading North East campaigners who both recently hit the royalty radar have pledged an alliance to support each and their respective campaigns in a refreshing collaboration.

South Tyneside based Tailored Leisure Company (TLC) led by Tara Mackings and Sunderland based Red Sky Foundation, with Sergio Petrucci at the helm have made a commitment to collaborate across the two borders to further develop their charities which play a vital role in the local community.

Tailored Leisure Company (TLC) with founder Tara Mackings at the helm are renowned in the North East region for their ethos and vision to overcome the barriers and social exclusion faced by disabled people, specifically in terms of access to fitness and leisure activities.

Tara, who was recently awarded a British Empire Medal for services to her community has been a key driving force in developing accessible projects in the local community since its inception.

Red Sky Foundation is a real example of how the smallest idea can grow to become something phenomenal and, more importantly, can make a life changing difference to so many people. The registered charity was born out of one simple wish, that couple Sergio and Emma Petrucci, who have both this year became MBEs in King Charles III’s first birthday honours, could give something back to the magnificent team at the Children’s Heart Unit at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital. This unit is nationally recognised and treats young people from across the UK every year – often making the difference between life and death to families.

Red Sky Foundation and Tailored Leisure Company (TLC) have pledged to leverage a number of informal collaboration opportunities to benefit each charity and their beneficiaries further, from improving awareness of their cause and increasing fundraising to sharing good practice around innovative projects, reach and growth.

The award-winning formula over the years at TLC has seen the team pick up an influx of award nominations and wins for their ground-breaking work and they have established a strong collaborative working approach to drive the development of accessible projects across the region.

Tara Mackings, Founder, Tailored Leisure Company said:

“Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do, and we are delighted to collaborate with Sergio and the team at the Red Sky Foundation. I reached out to Sergio to support us with guidance around our move to charitable status and this led to mentoring support which I can’t thank Sergio enough for. The collaboration grew organically out of various discussions and I’m really excited to continue our journey together to ensure maximum impact for our community.

We have developed some fantastic links with key partners including SAFCs Foundation of Light, Sunderland City Council and Headway. These partnerships and our track-record has been a key ingredient to TLC successfully achieving strong growth over the last 2 years.

We also received a lovely surprise from the team at the Red Sky Foundation this week with news that they have funded the hoist for our accessible caravan at Haven in Northumberland, and we are looking forward to supporting Red Sky Foundation beneficiaries to utilise this vital service too.“

With the charity starting fruition in Sunderland, the team at Red Sky Foundation are renowned in the region and nationally for their hard-hitting and thought-provoking campaigns. The charity was set up in 2016 and has raised more than £950,000 through fundraising events including the Great North Run and has installed more than 400 defibrillators. With the recent powerful and collaborative art exhibition between Red Sky Foundation and Fujifilm UK, The Call receiving regional and national acclaim for their campaign to raise awareness of organ donation, via showcasing inspirational images captured through a lens by local photographer Debbie Todd, this is just one example of their ground-breaking work and the power of collaboration.

Sergio Petrucci, Founder, Red Sky Foundation said:

“As a charity we are committed to collaboration and pro-actively seeking out opportunities. I was delighted that Tara reached out, we’ve worked hard to build the reputation of Red Sky Foundation and key to this has been the perseverance to develop vital partnerships and collaborations with key players. The ethos and drive from Tara and TLC is one that resonates with me and I’m delighted that we’ve pledged to work more closely together in the future.

The collaboration spectrum is immense and hugely valuable in sustaining longevity and growth of successful charities and campaigns, the power of uniting over shared aims cannot be underestimated.“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Claire Pickersgill .